My Plan to Fix the American Political System
Given that both wings of the two faced republicrat party have long since seized control of our government and ignored their sworn oath to the constitution and so ingrained their control to protect their positions, we cannot expect that they will ever surrender their power back to the people willingly. Therefore, it is up to us to bypass the congress and amend the constitution via Constitutional Convention to remove the power from political parties and ensure that they cannot re-infect our constitutional republic.
I offer the following amendments in hope that a call for convention may be called specifically to address these amendments. This is a rough draft, or course. I welcome commentary and discussion as to how to make them better while preserving the rights of the people and of the states and pushing the federal government back to it’s constitutional limits. I call these amendments the Bill of Limits.
William R. James
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Proposal for a Bill of Limits
Congressional Employment Amendment
1) All members of the US congress and their staffs shall be employees of their respective states. Their pay, including all benefits, shall be provided and set by their state legislatures by whatever means decided by their states.
2) The operating budget of both houses of the US Congress shall be audited every year by an independent panel of 12, each appointed by one state governor each, the governors to choose shall be selected by lottery.
House of Representatives Operational Amendment
1) Any bill with more than 10 sponsors shall be submitted for vote by the full house within 60 days of submission to the speaker.
2) All votes in the House shall be recorded and public.
3) All committee seats shall be chosen by random drawing at the start of all sessions. committee chairs shall be chosen by the seats via secret ballot among those chosen.
4) No political party or other private club shall have any place of prominence or reference or be given any authority by members of the House of Representatives while doing business.
5) The first order of business of every session is to vote on the position of Speaker.
Repeal Amendment 17
Senate Operational Amendment
1) Any bill with more than 3 sponsors shall be voted on within 30 days.
2) All votes in the Senate shall be recorded and public.
3) All committee seats shall be chosen by random drawing at the start of all sessions. committee chairs shall be chosen by the seats via secret ballot among those chosen.
4) No political party or other private club shall have any place of prominence or reference or be given any authority by members of the Senate while doing business.
5) The Vice President of the USA shall serve as the daily operational President of the Senate. In case of absentee of more than 10 days in any session, the position of Vice President shall be considered abandoned and the Speaker of the House shall appoint an interim Vice President until a replacement is appointed by the president and approved by the a vote of the senate.
Executive Responsibility Amendment
1) The offices of President and Vice President shall be two separate positions, each with their own position on the ballot.
2) The president may be impeached by a call by 3/4 of the governors of the states. In case of such, the impeachment shall be overseen by a court comprised of one appointee by each state executive with 50% plus one vote from their respective legislatures. A 3/4 vote shall remove from office the president. This does not alter the previous impeachment process.
3) Executive orders are to be limited to areas where the executive has specific constitutional authority.
4) The positions of the presidents’ cabinet are to be set by congress, with each position clearly defined with reference to it’s constitutional authority as relating to the executive branch.
Judicial Responsibility Amendment
1) Any Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States may be impeached by a call by 2/3 of the governors of the states. In case of such, the impeachment shall be overseen by a court comprised of one appointee by each state executive with 50% plus one vote from their respective legislatures.
2) No Supreme Court or federal justice shall be appointed for a single term longer than 18 years. The terms of existing judges shall expire on their 18th year, or within two years of this becoming law. whichever is greater. New appointment shall be set by the congress so that they are staggered in such a manner as to have an equal number as reasonably possible expire every 4th year for federal justices and every 2nd year for Supreme court justices.
Neutral Election Amendment
1) No public employee or public money shall be used to assist any political party in their endorsement process known as a “primary”. No public land, or property, or money shall be used by any political party for any purpose.
2) No endorsements shall appear on any political ballot within the USA.
3) States shall set standard rules for inclusion on ballots without regard to any or no political party affiliation.
State Nullification Amendment
1) Any law passed by the congress of the United States and signed into law by the president, shall become null and void if rejected by two thirds of the states in which the law would otherwise apply.
2) The individual states reserve the right to opt out of any federal program and shall not be penalized for doing so.
3) No federal agency shall have any authority within the borders of any state, other than on federal land, except such authority specifically granted to it by the state legislature and signed by the governor. Authority may be changed or terminated at will by a vote of two thirds of the state legislature and signature of the governor.
US Sovereignty Amendment
1) No treaty shall surrender the sovereign rule of the USA, any state, or the US constitution to any foreign power or any body or collection of foreign powers under any circumstances. No treaty with any foreign power shall supersede any rights of any US citizen’s under the US constitution.
US Citizenship Amendment
1) No one born within the borders of the United States shall be considered a citizen of the United States of America unless both parents are either US citizens or legally residing within the United states with at least one parent being a US citizen at the time of birth.
2) No one residing within the United States illegally shall be entitled to any services paid for by taxes of US citizens.
Food protection Amendment
1) Living things, if capable of producing seed, pollen, or offspring shall not be patented. All existing patents of living things which have been released into the wild are hereby null and void.
2) The right of the people to grow their own food shall not be infringed.
3) The right of the people to trade food shall not be infringed.
Interstate Commerce Amendment
1) Federal authority to regulate interstate commerce shall not extend to any party not participating directly in interstate commerce.
2) Federal authority to regulate interstate commerce shall be limited to regulation of interstate commerce and shall not be considered authority over other aspects of any business or individual.